He wants to change our driving behaviour with groundbreaking technology
In the May newsletter we got to know Saman Naziri, Regional General Manager at Sensys Gatso Group.
“The same purpose at work and at home. Saman Naziri lives by the philosophy to have a positive impact on people and to be a good role model whether they are his kids or his employees.”
Hej SBC Member!
Lt General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Deputy Chairman of Police and Public Security in Dubai with Saman Naziri, General Manager, ME, Sensys Gatso and Henrik Landerholm, Ambassador of Sweden to the UAE
What do you do today, and can you tell us about the company you work for?
Today I work as the Regional General Manager for the Swedish company Sensys Gatso Group. Our mission is to save lives by changing driving behaviour and we do this by providing systems, software, and services for traffic management.
What are the most dangerous behaviours of a driver?
1.25 million road traffic deaths occur every year and it is the main cause of death among those aged 15-29 where 75% are men. The chances of dying in a road traffic crash also depends on where you live and is driven by driving behaviour. I would say speeding is still the main cause of traffic deaths, however the fastest growing cause is texting and driving, combined with a high speed. That is why one of our recent developments include machine learning technology to detect hands and phones inside the vehicles.
Sensys Gatso has been supplying the United Arab Emirates with traffic safety systems since 2001, why do you think UAE chose Sensys Gatso and not a competitor?
In fact, we do have competitors in the UAE. While we have most of the cameras installed in Dubai, Ajman, Fujairah and RAK, other vendors have majority in for example Abu Dhabi where we are currently not present. One of the benefits of working closely with Dubai Police is that they have been in the driving seat of technology and always challenged us and our competition, for us to improve.
Sensys Gatso product display in Saudi Arabia
What are the coolest features of your offering?
I would say one of the “cooler” features we are using today is detecting illegal turn violations. We have found that in a normal intersection, up to 70% of violations are not crossing the red-light but rather related to carrying out an illegal turn, which means you are turning left from a straight lane or vice versa.
How did you celebrate when you received the contract from Saudi Arabia worth AED 120 million?
Well, I think myself and our staff in the UAE as well as our Chief Commercial Officer based in the Netherlands just went to sleep as we had many sleepless nights in order to finalize the agreement before deadline. However, our colleagues in Sweden and the Netherlands celebrated by arranging GCC inspired staff events with nice GCC food.
Tell us a bit about your background and what you did before moving to the United Arab Emirates?
Long story short, I was born in Iran and moved to Sweden with my family at the age of four and grew up in a town outside Stockholm. In 2008 I left Sweden for studies in New York followed by a short stay in Barcelona and in late 2009 I moved to Botswana to work as an intern for the Swedish Trade & Invest Council (Business Sweden). Besides carrying out projects for the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), my tasks were to support Swedish companies to grow in Southern Africa.
What do you think road safety will look like in Dubai in 2030?
I think as cities in general become greener and smarter, they will also be designed to reduce the need of car travel. Some areas may even be car-free and it is then important to be able to enforce vehicles who are entering car free zones, like what we are doing today in for example the Amsterdam's low emission zone where we violate certain vehicle types during certain times of the day to reduce emissions. As for Dubai, Dubai Police is a global success case in how you combine the latest technology with excellent road safety campaigns and education to increase public acceptance of traffic enforcement to get closer to the Vision Zero goal of zero deaths in the traffic. I think by 2030 we may be very close to that target here in Dubai.
As the General Manager what would you say are your strengths?
I would say my main strengths is the fact that I am a people’s person. I may not be the technological guy in the team, but I would like to think that I am good at building relationships and opening doors. I have also noticed that my “Swedish” management style of not micromanaging people but rather giving them space to take their own initiatives is being appreciated, especially in this region.
Saman is 36 years old and lives in Dubai with his Italian wife Arianna and their two kids who are five and two years old.
Finally, do you have any favourite place to have lunch in Dubai?
With my wife being a proud Italian and the risk of her reading this, I will just mention Italian places: For lunch Alici on Bluewater Island and for dinner Luigia at Rixos Premium JBR.
Thank you Saman for sharing your story and your life at Sensys Gatso.
Contact:
Visit Sensys Gatso’s on SBC’s website by clicking here.
Email: s.naziri@sensysgatso.com
Phone: +971 4 609 1060
Mobile: +971 50 454 9300
Connect with Saman on LinkedIn